Southern Sun
by ElizabethRains
Summary: Paul's imprinting story. Watch what happens when southern belle Lila comes to visit her aunt and meets Paul. Paul is the most volatile werewolf; can Lila quell his anger issues? Is this really imprinting or just a summer fling? R&R please.
1. Farmhand

Paul

Poor Paul, the volatile werewolf. He's the one who needs the most love and gets the least. I just wanted to make him smile a little. Enjoy, I know I have.

Advice of the week:

Independence is a beautiful thing. It is always a great back-up plan for those socially minded.

Paul

"I'm, ah, I'm not sure exactly what to say. I'm a hard worker, I keep a close group of friends, and I know how to work in a pack- I mean team. Oh and I am very loyal. I love animals; I get along really well with them. " My palms were sweating and my voice sounded unusually high. I could face a gang of bloodthirsty, super fast, evil vampires. But job interviews freaked me out.

"Ok." He was writing this all down and I waited awkwardly for him to finish. "What kind of experience do you have with animals?"

"Oh plenty." Shit, that sounded cocky. I could feel a blush at my awkward statement. I explained all my previous farm work. I had worked on the family farm since I was old enough to say 'Mommy needs you in the kitchen.' I loved horses. I realized that it made sense connecting with other large animals. Especially, being a large animal myself.

"What would you say are your weaknesses?" Bored, balding, Mr. Martin asked with drooping eyelids. We both knew I was going to be great at this; working hard was good for me.

"I have some anger issues." I hoped that wasn't a deal breaker. I had been trying to get it together. Ever since the Cullen's left it was easier to keep from phasing. I had been doing my best and the pack was always helpful. "It's not important. I get out my anger by doing manual labor. This should work out fine."

"I see you have some recent fines." He raised an overgrown grey eyebrow at me. Shit.

"Cliff diving is a, well, a passion of mine. I-It's fun." I swallowed hard and made a little gulping noise. "I promise not to do it again."

"Oh really?" he seemed to wake up a little. Not a good sign. I was probably lying through my teeth, but I really wanted this job. "Well, son I suppose that you would be too tired after work to get yourself into much trouble as it is."

"So, do I have the job?" I sat up straighter in my chair. Please say yes, please say yes. I could feel my heartbeat quicken. Mr. Martin walked over to the window and opened it. Even though it was raining hard the glass was all fogged up. I couldn't help my unusual heat.

"Boy, do you have a fever or something?" he was eyeing me suspiciously. No, I do not have a _fever._ You might call it a genetic condition; you might call it 'monster issues'; you might call it freaky. It was definitely not a fever.

"Nope, just one healthy, hardy, and handy young man." I'd thought of that one while waiting in the outdated waiting room. I wanted to try to use it at some point as a way of marketing myself. This job would be good, great even. It paid 12 an hour and it was guaranteed 40 hours a week. That kind of money was hard to come by in La Push. All I would have to do would be shovel horse shit, take care of the animals, wrangle cattle, and basically work a farm.

"Yeah, I guess." Mr. Martin sized me up one last time; he took my giant hand and shook it. The cranky old man seemed to brighten if only for a moment. He seemed pleased with my size; I was built for this kind of work. I could lose myself in this kind of work. It was perfect.

"Congratulations!" Emily hugged me and Sam patted me on the back. They were all excited that I'd scored the Langdon Farms job. I could feel a red hot blush spread to my cheeks and I kept my eyes glued to the floor. Everyone knew me as the screw-up angry and unstable one of the pack. It had been hard on Sam and me; Sam especially. Leah, Seth, Collin, Jared, Quil, Embry, and Jacob were lucky. Sam and I knew what they were going through when the werewolf genes kicked in. Sam and I had no idea what was happening to us. Sam was able to figure almost everything out about the time I started to change. It had been rough though. Sam was able to handle things better mostly because of Emily. I wasn't that lucky; I still hadn't imprinted. It was almost embarrassing that Jared and Quil had imprinted before me. I couldn't help my jealously. I was also worried that if I did imprint that I might hurt the poor soul like Emily. I shuddered at the thought.

"You wouldn't." Sam said quietly from across the room. I turned red all over again. Everyone was quiet, feeling my emotions and pain in their own way. All except Emily and Kim, they had no idea. I figured that to some extent they knew; they were just as much a part of the pack as everyone else. It could be so suffocating having them all in my head. Before the pack formed I had been a relatively shy person. I liked to keep to myself.

"You don't know that Sam!" I could feel my emotion and anger welling up. I stood up waiting to phase and run off. I was taking off my shoes in preparation.

"Yes I do." He was staring me down. The other members were staying quiet. I was sick of them being in my head all the time. I needed space and air. I could feel myself ripping apart; I wanted so badly to give in. Fighting that impulse was like fighting the purest part of yourself. "Of all people I would know. Put your shoes on, you aren't going anywhere."

"No, you don't know" I growled. Keep it together, keep it together. "You have no idea what it's like. It's hell Sam. I'm angry. I'm bitter. I'm alone. Now let me be." I phased and ran into the forest. I had managed to keep most of my clothes intact. I ran to the beach it helped to calm me. Somehow watching the tumultuous green/blue waves crash helped quell the anger. I phased back to human for and threw on the pants I'd tied around my leg. I could sense the storm front before I saw it on the horizon. It was going to be a bad one. I felt my hairs stand of end and I felt uneasy; probably some thunder and lightening. I never needed the weather forecast anymore. That was certainly one advantage to the whole werewolf thing. I was alone and I was the reason for being alone. I guess I wasn't completely alone considering the fact that I always had pack and the tribe. Being a wolf wasn't easy, and it certainly wasn't easy. I couldn't help but be bitter; I hadn't been given a choice to be this way. No one asked me, 'Hey Paul. You know what would be cool?' The stupid bloodsuckers at least had a choice; granted sometimes that choice was made for them. My choice was given in my DNA; what genes were to be expressed or not. That was purely fate, magic, and/or history. I tried to be positive and remind myself that tomorrow would be a new day. I sat down of a weathered piece of wood and took count of the things in my life. I would do this on life changing events. I did this after high school graduation. I even did this while grieving Harry's death. Now I was going to start a new job so it was time. Health- Check. If anything I was too healthy. Wealth- Getting there. This new job would help. Friends- Yes, the better than any human friends. Family- The tribe was the best family you could ever hope for. Happiness- Mostly, but it was hard. I was bitter and angry all the time. It was hard to be happy. Love- Nope. Nothing.

Lila

"Well, what do you think?" my aunt Kris was so enthusiastic I hoped that I would able match her energy level. Flying to the opposite coast wasn't exactly what I had planned for the summer. Life in the fast lane… I needed to get away. I'd lived most of my life in rural Tennessee. My whole family was in the horse business. Or at least that's what I liked to call it. We raised and sold quality horses for a living. My parents had a particular knack for horses; it had passed to me. I had a special _way _with animals, as cliché as that might sound. I had always just assumed that it was hereditary.

"It's great, aunt Kris." And it was. The farm was beautiful; I had to admit that the Pacific Northwest was beautiful. It was maybe a little colder than I would have liked, but still beautiful. She was currently breeding paint horses, a personal favorite of mine. I watched their beautiful muscular bodies gallop through the pasture. If I squinted hard enough and looked out to the west I could see a sliver of ocean. It was beautiful and so remote. I'd never lived so far from a mall before. It was so quiet and peaceful being in this remote town. It was also strange seeing such tall trees. Back home there were trees, plenty of them but never this huge. Washington was beautiful.

"Is it how you remember?" she seemed hopeful. It had been three years, a long, life altering three years. I had grown a lot and changed in so many ways. The farm really hadn't changed at all.

"Almost exactly as I remember." I smiled at her and she hugged me. It felt so good to be back and smell the salty air of the Pacific Ocean. Everything was greener and cleaner in Northwest.

"I'm so glad to hear that. Now we've made some changes since you were last here. I'll show you." She grabbed my hand, and we were off on a whirlwind adventure to see everything. She explained that they had been expanding and had hired a new ranch hand. The farm had always been like one big family. We walked over to the stables. They had a few new colts and I was about to stroke the nose of one.

"Get your hand out of there!" I jumped about a foot and turned around.

"Mr. Martin! You gave me a real fright!" I walked over to the old man. He was just as cranky as I remembered. "How have you been?"

"Tired. I'm old." He had such a tough exterior but I could see the real humor behind his tired eyes.

"My aunt works you too hard Mr. Martin. You are wasting away!" I patted him on the back and saw a wry smile cross over his ancient face. He had been a ranch hand all his life and that kind of work had hardened him, but just like with animals I just had a way.

"You've been good?" he asked in a gruff voice, trying to hide his excitement at seeing me.

"Never better thank you." Mr. Martin showed me around the farm until it was close to dinner time. I still hadn't seen my favorite person yet.

"Oh Miss. Lila I'm so glad you're here." I looked into the old face I hadn't seen for years. It was Miss. Maria my old nanny she had cared for me over the summers when I stayed with my aunt. I hugged her and she led me to the kitchen. She smelled like cedar wood chips and cinnamon. It was an old familiar smell, the kind that that eases you into reminiscing about the past.

"Miss. Maria! How have you been? How are the boys? Pedro? José? Poco?" she brightened at my mentioning her three sons. Pedro was five years older than myself, José was my age and Poco was about five year younger.

"Poco isn't so small anymore. He prefers his real name: Jon. They are all doing fine." We got caught up on matters of the farm and local news. She explained about the strange bear attacks and sightings. She also warned me about the local boys. "Oh Miss. Lila, they are so big. The youngest is around Poco's age, but he is the size of Pedro! I can't believe it!"

"It all sounds rather _off _if you ask me." I tried not to let my southern drawl linger. It was almost like I belonged in two worlds. Another civil war of culture: On one side I wanted to be a prim and proper southern lady, and on the other I wanted to be a regular ranch hand of Langdon Farms up north. So much about myself changed within Miss. Maria's company. My language shifted, my clothes were different, even the way I carried myself was more relaxed. If my mother were to see me now; she'd turn rather blue in the face.

"Dinner should be ready soon. Your room is just how you left it, if you want to go see." She pointed upstairs. I felt a burst of happiness. It was so good to be here.

"Oh Miss. Maria! You are a regular Chief Cook and Bottle Washer!" I hugged her again and see looked at me strangely.

"Chief cook… and what?" she was smirking at me. Maria loved the little difference between the north and south.

"What? Y'all don't say that? It means that you can do anything and everything." I smiled back at her before running up the stairs. I found the door that I hadn't walked through in a three years. My life and summers had been so busy at the end of my high school years, I wasn't able to visit. Now, with one year of college under my belt I was ready to revisit my old watering hole. I took a deep breath and opened the door. The room was beautiful, still. The walls were a cheery yellow with a clean white trim. There was lace an almost everything from my curtains to my bedspread. It was like a little slice of the south up north. I went and sat on the box seat at the window and looked out over the pasture. I sighed and looked down. There was a tall and lean dark haired man shoveling hay. I smiled at him. He looked up and I waved but he just stood there, watching me. I couldn't make out his features very well but I was fairly sure he was watching me. I had to remind myself that I was no longer in the comforts of a society I knew well. I couldn't just wave at people I didn't know and expect a kind gesture back. Two worlds apart. I heard Miss. Maria call my name and I ran down stairs. Everyone was there: aunt Kris, Mr. Maritn, Miss. Maria, and the three boys.

"Pedro, José, Poco- I mean Jon. It's so good to see you!" They were all grown up. Pedro was like my older brother, he liked to boss me around just like his brothers. I had always had a little crush on José, now it was almost embarrassing to see him. He had long shoulder length black hair. His eyes were always honest and clear. Poco was the funniest of all. He was painfully tall and painfully thin; his long arms and legs were truly comical.

"Hola chica!" Poco was the first to recognize me he ran up and gave me a hug. Poco had always had a little bit of a schoolboy's crush on me; now he was a little man.

"Hey Poco!" he gave me a classic teenager look. "What? You will always be Poco to me." I laughed at his obvious dissatisfaction. I looked over at the older two. Pedro walked over and gave me a brotherly hug.

"It's good to see you chica." He smiled warmly at me. Pedro was an interesting guy; he was running the business aspect of the farm. Pedro had an excellent way with numbers and management.

"You too." I finally turned to my childhood sweetheart. José was looking at his shoes and seemed a little distressed. He had always been shy, until you got to really know him. Then he wouldn't shut up. I walked over and stood in front of him until his eyes met mine. I couldn't help laughing at his general demeanor.

"Hey Jo." It was an old nickname, José hated his name when we were fifteen and I had called him Jo ever since. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him into a friendly hug. My head filled with a familiar scent of cinnamon and grass. Jo liked to cook with his mom while still helping with the farm. It was so good to be back.

"Are all y'all ready to fill your breadbasket?" I asked forgetting my northern façade.

"What's a breadbasket?" Poco asked with curious eyes.

"Y'all don't say breadbasket?" Everyone had a good laugh at my expense. "It means stomach."

"Oh. Where's that new guy? Is he gonna eat with us?" Poco asked Mr. Martin; he was so good natured.

"I could care less." Mr. Martin grumbled. I smiled in his direction and the old man warmed a little. Sometimes I wondered if my aunt asked me here just to make Mr. Martin a little easier to get along with.

"Who is going to eat with us?" I asked Mr. Martin specifically but Poco answered. He was eager to impress.

"The new guy." He replied with a big smile.

"Does the new guy have a name?" I asked with patience.

"Paul." Pedro replied instead. He was in control of paychecks so I assumed that he not only knew Paul's full name but his social security number and address. Paul; good name, he sounded solid. Probably a little stiff, boring, and dumb; a perfect farmhand.


	2. Horse Crap

Paul

**Advice of the week:**

**Don't let potential embarrassment be the reason you don't help someone. Help is always appreciated, even if it isn't needed.**

**Enjoy ; )**

Paul

I was shoveling crap. It seemed that these days all I did was shovel crap; I'd grown accustomed to the smell. I would always remember the first time we met as me shoveling crap.

I was almost finished with cleaning out the last stall, the horse junk was all in one big pile, I heard someone walk in but I figured it was Mr. Martin.

"Hey there." the girl drawled. I turned around a little too quickly and slipped in horse crap. I stumbled and landed smack dab in the middle of the pile I'd been forming. Only my upper half was covered; from my stomach to the top of my head was coated. The smell was intense and I gagged a little. "Oh my stars, I am so sorry. Here let me help you."

"Please, I don't want you to get dirty." I hadn't even gotten the chance to see who I was talking to; I wiped the poop out off my face and walked over to the hose. I started to strip taking off my boots and shirt; I started to wash my torso. I could hear the girl walking away. "Stop! Hey, Sorry."

"Alright." I could tell that she was trying to hold back her drawl now, and I felt her eyes roaming over my body. I washed quickly not knowing whom it was watching me. I managed to get most, if not all of the horse crap off myself. I could not smell too pleasant; why hadn't my werewolf reflexes kicked in? How could I manage to be so uncoordinated? Jacob and Sam were so coordinated all the time while I managed to walk around and run into things like a new pup. I turned around to face the girl. She was beautiful; the kind of beautiful that wasn't intimidating, rather the kind of beauty that you could stare at forever. She was tall for a girl and had straight dark blonde hair. Her eyes were an interesting color but I couldn't say exactly what color from where I was standing. I couldn't tear my gaze from her. I realized that I was being rude and should speak but words didn't come easily.

"Hi. I'm Paul. I would shake your hand, but…" I could feel myself blush and she let out a musical laugh.

"It's alright. You must be the _new_ ranch hand. I'm Lila, Kris' niece." When she smiled at me then I felt my heart stop; I couldn't breathe I tried to mask it by looking down. I finally inhaled and my pulse was fast. Crazy.

"Oh, so you are her beautiful? I MEAN her niece?" what was wrong with me? "That's cool." I added lamely. I was starting to feel my familiar body-ripping-apart sensation; I tensed and tried to calm myself and quell my embarrassment.

"Yeah, are you aright?" she touched my arm. Her hand lingered and the sensation calmed me. She was very close now and I could finally see her eyes. One was a pure blue color and the other was brown with a splash of blue; they were the kind of eyes I could stare into forever. I wasn't sure how long we stood there; me starting at Lila and Lila holding my arm. It felt too natural and too good to want to break. Societal norms eventually kicked in and she realized she was still touching me. "Oh, sorry."

"No, it's… great." Great? Really? Why didn't I just say: your touch makes me lightheaded and feel amazing? I would imagine that to feel just as awkward; maybe a bit more honest.

"Sure." she bit her lower lip and seemed terribly worried. "Are you running a fever?"

"What? No." everyone asked me that, at least once a day. How would I respond to _that:_ I'm fine. I am a werewolf, but other than that I'm fine. I could almost see her frightened eyes and watch this amazing girl run out of my life. And I barely knew her.

"Paul? Right? Are you sure you are ok? Sometimes when I run a fever I don't think I am and then end up in the ER." She laughed nervously. I watched her gaze fall from my eyes to my bare chest. Her gaze lingered and I would have felt uncomfortable but I was in such good shape.

"I'm really fine; I just have a higher temperature than most." It sounded so rote after I said it, I was sounding less and less convincing. She eyed me suspicious but having Lila just looking at me felt amazing. It was like basking in the sun after a particularly hard winter.

"I see." She jumped a little and looked down at her watch. "Oh dang. I really should get going."

"Oh." My stomach sank and I was pretty sure my face drained of color. I wanted her to stay so badly but it wasn't like my job was fun. "You don't want to stay here and shovel horse crap with me?"

"I would love to stay here, and watch _you_ work." She had a wry smile and a particular glint in her eyes. "I need to go run Jezebel around. She was just a filly when I was here last."

"A filly?" I wasn't good with horse stuff; manual labor I could do but the terms were still new.

"What? That is most certainly _not _a southern term!" she was saying this more to herself than to me. I continued to watch her expression change from exasperation to embarrassment. "It means a female baby horse."

"Thanks, I really need to learn this stuff." She brightened at my ignorance.

"I could always teach you!" she smiled at me and I nodded.

"Thanks I would love that." There I'd said the L word again. What was wrong with me? I was acting like an idiot, I was kind of acting like Jacob before the bloodsucker-lover left.

"Well, alright. I'll see you around, Paul." The way she said my name was incredible. Paul, Paul, Paul. I could listen to that sound forever. Instead I watched her walk away. There was something in the way she moved; she had an energy and flow to her movement. It was so entrancing to watch her.

"What are you doing?! Get back to work!" Mr. Martin barked. I had to remind myself that the cranky old man was my boss and the sole reason why this farm had succeeded for so many years. I took a deep breath and got back to work. If this had been any other day I would have had to calm myself by Lila's presence had a power over me. Even working with horse crap my work seemed easier and almost _fun _now.

Work passed faster now as I let my mind wander, the main focus of my thoughts were on Lila. I didn't really have a choice, every time I closed my eyes I saw her angel face. I started to day dream while washing down Old Mally one of the fathering horses. I was tracing the curves of the old horse.

"Hey!" I had just been daydreaming about Lila when Maria's youngest son came running up. "Hey, man."

"Uh, hi." I was feeling shy and continued working.

"So, you met Lila?" he was prying and seemed a little too eager to hear my answer.

"Yeah." I couldn't remember this kid's name, I remembered Pedro because he was the guy in charge of paying me. The other kid was José; I knew that because he and I had gone to school together. We weren't friends, he was shy and I had the pack.

"She's hot right?" he took a step closer. What a stupid question to ask me. She was beautiful, yes. I turn around and 'accidentally' sprayed him with the hose.

"Hey man! Watch it!" I'd managed to soak his pants.

"Oh, sorry." I tried not to laugh as the little guy walked off sulking. He jogged in toward the house; I felt a little sorry for him. He was just trying to be friendly; I just didn't want people talking about Lila in that way. I went back to hosing down Old Mally. I felt someone watching me. I looked up and saw Lila from the window, she was laughing.

Lila

He was…something. I believe the proper term is 'well built'. But I had promised myself that I wouldn't date anyone over the summer. I didn't want a summer fling. I had made that decision three years ago, the last time I had spent the summer with my aunt. Jo and I were both sixteen at the time. We had both spent about every summer together since we both could remember. Tensions had been building for the last few years since we'd both hit puberty. This summer was special. I thought back to one especially warm night; it was a night of possibilities. Jo and I were lying out in the middle of the pasture and we were exhausted. It had been a long hard day of work and I could feel a bad sunburn on my back. We were both looking up at the night sky; the pattern of stars were different in Washington than it was in Tennessee.

"Oy. I don't think I could move even if I wanted to. How are you holding up, Jo?" I looked over at my old summer friend. He had been staring at me intensely. "Oh."

"Li, have you ever thought of just, staying?" he seemed a little embarrassed at asking the question. I pulled myself up on one elbow in order to face him.

"I don't think I could live so far away from my family and friends." I saw a pained expression cross his face. "My _other_ friends and my _other _family."

"Whatever. Do you miss me, I mean, us?" he was still lying on his back starting up at the clear night sky.

"Of course! How could you even ask me that?" I grabbed his hand and watched the shock on his face. He seemed pleased but also embarrassed. "Jo, I miss you everyday I'm gone."

"I don't know." He said quietly. Jo took my hand and kissed it. I tried to hide the surprise crossing my face. He let go of my hand and sat up. "Please stay, Lila. I don't want you to go."

"You don't know how much I wish I could. Maybe you could visit me?" I asked hopefully. "It could work out, Jo. We can talk everyday and I'll try to fly down-"

"No. No, Lila. You know I can't afford to fly to Tennessee." He said this quietly and seemed embarrassed again. He was looking away from me and I almost couldn't stand the way this felt. It was painful having to say goodbye.

"We still have a week, can we enjoy that time?" I was feeling frustrated. It had taken sixteen years of friendship and love to get Jo to be so open with me. We had spent the entire summer together working the farm and falling in love. We held hands and spent evenings together just staying up all night and talking, but we hadn't kissed. I didn't want to push him, but our time together was running out.

"Yeah Lila. We still have a week." I sat up and Jo put his arm around me; it felt so good being with him. He smelled like cinnamon and grass from helping his mom cook and working with me in the pasture. I cuddled closer to him and I heard him sigh. I put my head against his chest. It was surprised to hear his quick heartbeats; he must have been nervous. Now I wasn't exactly sure how to react.

"Are you feeling alright?" I pulled back a little to look at his familiar face; his eyes seemed hooded and filled with emotion. It was almost hard to stare into them.

"Better than ever." His smile was strange; it wasn't the embarrassed slight smile he usually displayed. This was more forced; I could tell that he was almost completely lost in his thoughts. I wasn't sure if this would be the moment. Was he going to kiss me? I could tell that he was thinking about it; he kept looking down at my lips.

"Lila? May I kiss you?" he asked in his quiet way. I couldn't speak so I nodded. He bent in and stopped very close to my face. He took a quick glance into my eyes to double check that this really was ok. Then he pressed his lips to mine. It was a soft and sweet kiss; I could tell that this must have been his first one. With that I was flattered. There really wasn't much there; I didn't know at the time if it was because we were better as friends or if I just didn't want him in that way. It wasn't unpleasant and I was happy; but it was average. I'd only kissed two other boys in my life, boys with less history, boys I didn't really care about. Jo wasn't in the same category, weren't childhood sweethearts the best kind of love? Maybe kissing was just supposed to feel like this?

"Lila! Hellooo?!" Poco broke my reminiscing and brought me back to the present.

"Oof. Howdy." I rubbed my eyes in an attempt to focus.

"Did you see what happened? Did you see what Paul did?" he was trying to get me on his side but I wasn't buying it. I knew Poco better than that, I had seen and _heard _what he said.

"Yes I did, and if I'd been Paul I would have sprayed you too!" I gave him a playful punch and Poco sulked a little.

"I don't think I like him." He said defiantly and stuck his nose in the air. I had to laugh at the silly boy. I was glad that time really hadn't changed Poco much.

"Well _I _like him. He seems nice." I added and Poco made a face and stormed off. Paul was, well, a thing of beauty. I shivered at the memory of his perfectly sculpted abdomen and chest. His face was chiseled with perfect pronounced Native American high cheek bones. His skin was a lush deep brown color that reflected not only his heritage but the time he spent in what little sun Washington had to offer. There was a spark there. I wanted to see if that spark could turn into fire. I stood up and went down to the kitchen.

"Oof!" I ran smack into Jo. He seemed more surprised to see me than I was in seeing him. "Hey Jo."

"I don't really go by that name anymore. People usually just call me José." He said quietly, I felt a sinking feeling. Things had really changed in the three years I'd been away. When I wasn't looking José turned into a very serious man.

"Sorry, but I'm very stuck in my ways when it comes to names." I said with my usual good humor. If this had been three years ago he would have at least smirked at me. Instead he just shrugged and kept walking. I felt guilty watching his walk away. "Hey, Jo- José. It's really good to see you. Believe it or not, I missed you."

"Thanks, Lila." He turned around briefly and even if he didn't say it, his expression spoke for him.

Even with everything that was going on with the farm and Jo; I couldn't stop playing my first encounter with Paul over in my head. Paul didn't come to dinner like I'd hoped, when I asked after him Poco answered 'He has a family, he doesn't need ours'. Even Jo gave me a strange look. I responded with 'Just trying to be friendly, sue me.'; the boys seemed in sour moods. I decided to go to my favorite spot for star gazing on the farm. The night was colder than I was expecting so I grabbed an extra blanket. I walked through the pasture, I noticed something in the grass. I approached cautiously incase it was a coyote or something. As I got closer I saw that it was a boy.

"Hello?" I asked carefully. The boy turned and I could see that it was Paul. "Oh."

"Hi." He breathed. He had his hands behind his head and I noticed the muscles of his arm. I couldn't help noticing that he was not wearing a shit and I couldn't stop starting. I realized that he had said something to me.

"Ah, I brought a blanket. May I join you?" he nodded. He seemed pleased and his eyes had a sparkle to them. I suddenly felt self-conscious in my short white dress. I sat down on the blanket next to Paul. He was watching me intensely and I brought my knees to my chest. He was _so _good looking. The silence seemed a little awkward. "This is my favorite spot."

"Mmm." Was his only response. I nodded awkwardly he was still watching me.

"Paul? Didn't your momma teach you not to stare?" I asked playfully. An embarrassed grin took hold of his features.

"She didn't tell me how hard it was to look away from the beautiful ones." I laughed. Beautiful? No, if anything I was strange looking. I was too tall for a girl and my eyes were so bizarre. One was a pleasant blue and the other was brown with a weird spot of blue. It made me a freak.

"Thanks, but let me know when you see one." I said jokingly.

"Would you believe that I am staring at the only one worth looking at?" he replied, just then I was thankful for the darkness hiding my blush. I realized how close we were sitting then. The hairs on my arm were brushing the hairs on his arm and the simple sensation was enough to set my skin aflame. I became painfully aware of my hands I wanted him to hold it. The conversation flowed easily after that; Paul was very interesting.

"I'm sorry but Mr. Martin is _not _a sweet old man!" Paul laughed. I sent a mock glare in his direction.

"And you are not a sweet boy!" I returned. Paul made a face and I cupped my hand around his handsome face. I became aware of the intimate gesture after I'd done it. "Oh, geez. That was awkward, I won't awkwardly touch your face again I promise."

"No no no, please. You have my full permission to touch awkwardly or not anytime you want." He replied, I laughed a little.

"I might take you up on that offer." He grinned at me wolfishly. I bit my lower lip. Just then I felt my cell phone vibrate, I'd been sitting on it. I looked down at the number, it was my aunt. She must have been worried, it was close to 2am. "It's late. I'd better go."

"Only if you must." Paul replied. He didn't budge instead he watched me gather my things.

"Aren't you going to go home?" I asked, it was 2am.

"Maybe, maybe not. A night under the stars might do me some good. It has been a long day." He yawned but it sounded more like a growl. "Will I see you tomorrow?"

"Probably." I shrugged. "We should have our first lesson." As I walked away I felt Paul's eyes on me and I liked it. I was going to have fun the summer.


	3. Jealous

Advice of the week:

Advice of the week:

Don't make music, let the music come.

Paul

"What should I wear?" I was feeling anxious and nervous, like I might throw up. I looked over at Seth for approval. "Is this ok?"

"God, you are being such a girl." I growled in his directions and he stood up and growled. Seth liked to fight and I liked to fight with him, it was good to teach the pups to fight. I took off my shoes and shirt and Seth did the same. We both phased and ran out of the house and into the woods. We were at it, clawing, biting and growling. Seth made one good swipe and managed to cut my cheek badly. A surge of anger flooded me and I was able to knock him to the ground, get on top of him, and hold him down; his neck was in my jaws. I'd clearly won. I phased back and threw my pants on.

"Oh man it is too early to be seeing your junk." Seth made a face but I noticed that he was the one giving a show. I looked away, mostly because it was too early for penises. We walked back in and decided what to wear. They were work clothes but I wanted to make a good impression. I couldn't wait for our first 'lesson', Lila had been on my mind all last night. It was driving the pack crazy.

"She is hot, I will admit." Seth said when we were in the car. I dropped him off at his work.

"Thanks, I guess." I was feeling protective of Lila and I didn't want more than _one _werewolf watching her. I hadn't felt this way before it was strange. Summer fling was what I had to remind myself; she would leave at the end of the summer. I couldn't remind myself of that painful fact too much. It was hard enough being out of her company for a few hours let alone a year, if not longer. I felt a lump in my throat at that thought. After the summer, would I see her again? I couldn't leave the pack. I begrudgingly set about my work, cleaning pens, feeding livestock, general maintenance. I saw José brushing one of the paint horses. He met my stare and I waved a little, out of good measure. He walked over and sat on the fence close to where I was watering the horses.

"Hey." I said. We were kindred spirits, both quiet and both hiding something.

"Hey." He replied. "You meet Lila, yet?"

"Yeah." I looked up and saw something strange in his expression.

"I saw you two last night. Getting comfortable?" his tone had changed to match his expression. I recognized it; jealousy.

"She is…well, you know." It was hard to express how incredible she was and how great she made me feel. José nodded and I could see anger welling up, this could get bad.

"Stay away from her, if you know what's good for you. Ok? She is not yours." He was raising his voice to an uncomfortable level. I could feel my own anger building but I knew that mine was more dangerous than he could ever imagine.

"I'm sorry man. I can't do that. I like her." That was an understatement for the year. Sad.

"I mean it Paul. You don't want to mess this up, it could have serious _financial_ consequences." He replied. No. I needed this job, badly. Would he get me fired? Could he? Shit. Thankfully, I didn't need to respond because just then the company in question walked up.

"Good morning gentlemen." She beamed at us. "How are my two favorite men doing this morning?" Her good mood was helping to lift my sour spirits caused by José.

"You say everyone is your favorite." José added annoyingly, Lila was so god natured that she just laughed him off. She turned to me and I froze under her gaze, she was even more stunning in the morning sun.

"How are you, Paul?" she smirked at me.

"Much better now, thank you." A brilliant idea came to me then. "Well, I'd better get back to work." I took Lila's soft hand. "Until we meet again." I kissed her hand and she beamed at me in response. I turned away and could almost feel José glare; it was a win-win move on my part. I walked away and I could hear José's lies start. I heightened my wolf-senses to hear their conversations as I went back to my work in the pasture.

"So? He's your new boyfriend? Huh? Is that how it's going to be?" José had raised his tone and I involuntarily growled, it spooked Old Mally who was about 30 feet from me. He bolted. They both looked over at me and I pretended not to notice anything.

"Jo. Why do you think the worst of me? What do you really think of me?" Lila's voice was so sad. I didn't know the history there but I was worried for her.

"Your not answering the question." He replied with a bitter tone. I didn't like the way he was talking to her. So accusing so rude. Lila had a _way _people, I couldn't imagine anyone being mean to her for even a moment. There must be something in their past that drove him to be so unreasonable.

"I'm not answering because you are being unreasonable. I told myself I wouldn't date anyone after what happened. I don't want just some 'summer fling'" Her words hurt a little. Was she manipulating me with her flirtation? "I am sorry Jo, I've missed you, if that means anything."

From what I could see he shrugged, "I've missed you to Li."

They walked off together and I decided that I should focus on my work, and I had plenty I needed to work on. I worked up a sweat and had to strip off my pathetic sweat soaked shirt. I was still burning up but I would just need to deal with it; I decided to bath one of the younger horses. I found Loupe a new paint that was supposed to be valuable. I got the soap, a brush, and the hose. Little Loup was being bad and kept running away; she obviously would rather play than get a bath. I grunted loudly in my frustration that only spooked her more. I didn't want to get 'wolf-y' but I was feeling more angry now. My ear perked up when I heard footsteps.

"She's a spry one that Loupe." Lila had a joking tone, she also had a carrot in her hand. "Come here darlin'"

I watched in amazement as the stupid horse trotted over quickly to Lila. She just let Lila stroke her and stood there almost entranced by her presence.

"You've got to be joking." I said trying not to be too frustrated.

"What's wrong?" she asked smiling. Her sweet heart shaped face was almost too much, I wanted to walk over there and kiss her. I knew that would be stupid.

"I've been trying for a good twenty minutes to give that stupid horse a bath." Lila seemed a little hurt by my comment. "I'm sorry. The horse isn't _stupid_, just tricky."

"It's alright. And _she _is called a _filly_. That's the word for it." Lila was smirking almost dangling the knowledge in front of me seeing if I would bite.

"Oh, and what's this stuff?" I asked pointing to the different horse things.

"It's called track, all the equipment used for the horse is called track. That includes the bridle, saddle, halter, etcetera." I loved just watching her talk, watching the light of her eyes. We just stared at each other then for a moment; me just sucking her joy and she giving it freely. I continued to wash the filly as Lila continued teaching me different terms. It felt so natural just talking to Lila and working; it felt like we'd been doing this for years. I couldn't ask for anything better; just the two of us. I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing and accidentally dropped a pitch fork into my foot.

"Oh, my lawd! Paul!" Lila jumped off of the fence she was sitting on and ran over to me. The pain hadn't completely settled in yet but I knew I couldn't let her see my shoe or my foot.

"I'm fine. Just stay there and give me a second." Shit shit shit. How was I going to play this off? Shit! I took off my boot and looked at the hole that was quickly disappearing. The pain was searing and I bit my lip to redirect it. Ouch. Why was I so stupid? I was stupid because she was so beautiful. The wound had healed enough not to be so bad, I could show it to her now.

"Let me see. Oh, Paul, are you alright? Did it go through your boot?" she wasn't controlling her drawl anymore and the lilt to her speech was entrancing.

"Yeah. It hurts can you help me inside?" I asked faking the pain now. I just wanted it to seem passable. I put my arm around her shoulder and she helped lead me into the house to get some ice. I sat down at the kitchen table as Lila got some ice. Looking around I noticed the picture frames. One picture was a beautiful blonde girl with pig-tails riding a white horse. Another one was of a younger Kris and three Hispanic boys and a much younger Maria. There was a more candid shot of a younger Lila with a younger José sitting around a birthday cake. Lila's smile was about a million miles long, and José glowed a little being in her presence.

"Those are from a long time ago." Lila was blushing probably because I'd been starting intensely at the pictures. She reached for my foot and I instinctually pulled back.

"Sorry. It's a little tender." I was praying that my foot was almost healed by now. Please please please. I squeezed my eyes shut as I took off my sock for Lila to see.

"Oh!" I opened my eyes "You are such a baby! There's just a little red mark!"

"Oh, ha ha. Yeah." My foot just looked a little red from where about five minutes ago there was a bloody hole. How would I explain the hole in my boot?

"I guess it's true what they say. Women have a higher tolerance for pain then men." She was still laughing and holding ice to my foot. She was a lot closer than I had realized and her face was only about five inches from mine. I smiled at her and she bit her lip.

"You should see both of your faces right now. You two look so goofy!" Kris walked in and eyed my foot with the ice on it. "Oh dear, are you alright Paul?"

"What? Yeah, just a pitch fork accident. I'm being well taken care of." I broke Lila's gaze and could see the Kris was trying to hide a smirk. She just nodded and started making lunch. "I'd better get back to work."

Lila

He is so cute. Not cute as in, aww-what-a-sweet-guy, no. He makes me smile and keeps me in the best mood. All my troubles melt away when I look into his green-brown eyes. I'd been wondering all day what kissing Paul would feel like. I'd thought I was really in love with Jo. Jo had been my "big love", but his kiss was just average. Jo, I had decided was jealous of Paul. Amazing that that boy could act that way after everything. _He _pushed _me _away. I was deeply lost in my thoughts.

"Ok, I get it. I know I don't cook like your _private _cook back home. But you could at least pretend it like it." Aunt Kris was teasing. I hadn't realized that I wasn't eating my grilled cheese sandwich.

"Oh goodness, I'm sorry." I took a bite. It was greasy and perfect, just like I remembered. The sandwich brought back nostalgia that hit me in the gut. It was almost like I'd developed taste aversion to the sandwich when I thought about the last time I'd had one. I was crying on the air plane back to Tennessee. I was suddenly hit with the idea that I would eventually have to leave.

"Is it really that bad?" my aunt asked. Her huge tired blue eyes were watching me intensely.

"I-I just hate saying goodbye." I was trying not to think too hard about it. I did have a good four months. A lot can change in that time frame. "I wish I could stay here, sometimes. I love Washington."

"Ha! You are a funny girl. You love the rain? And hail? And snow?" my aunt went back to preparing lunch for the boys. It was Maria's day off but the boys were still working. They only lived a mile away but often times they would just stay on the farm. "You and that Paul are sure getting close. José and Poco told me you two stayed out together the other night."

"Heh. Yeah." I couldn't fight the smile crossing my face as she mentioned his name. "I really like him. He's quite…charming." I heard a strange crashing noise and a yelp. Nothing happened so I went back to thinking about Paul.

"Do you _like_ this boy? Do you think you might want to date him? That didn't work out very well last time. Don't think I forgot." How could I forget? The image of Jo walking away and not turning back was burned into my memory. The old wounds hadn't healed.

"You also remember who turned down whom." I gave her a look that meant stay-out-of-it.

"Ok Ok. I understand that this is a _touchy _subject. Paul is a great ranch hand. I think I would really like to keep him, so please be careful." I didn't need to hear this. Paul was special; I couldn't stop thinking about him. I also couldn't seem to stay away from him for very long. He was so good natured and sweet. I was surprised when Mr. Martin told me that Paul did cliff diving and had anger issues. I couldn't imagine it.

"I think I might really like him. Is that ok?" I asked Aunt Kris. She just nodded and I heard a strange noise again. I got up to explore it; I walked very quietly and jumped around the corner.

"AH!" it was Poco and I'd scared him badly. He'd been spying; this was a nasty habit of his. I laughed really hard, and then sobered when I caught sight of his expression. "You like him. You _like _him? Seriously?" Poco was just a little guy and I knew that he looked up to me for guidance; I was like his older sister.

"Yes, I really do. I think he's cute and I think I might even want to _date _him." I said loudly. Poco and Jo would just need to deal.

"Well." I blushed at the sound of Paul's voice. He had been in the other room the entire time and had heard everything. I hid my face in my hands. "That sounds good to me too."

"Oh lawd. Help me and my life threatening embarrassment." I bit my lip hard and fought my bashfulness. I looked into those smiling eyes and melted again. I worked up a little courage. "Paul. I like you."

"So I hear." He replied. He was smiling so much that the entire room was lit up. I needed to prove, at least to myself that I was truly brave.

"Would you like to have dinner with me?" I asked quickly, I hadn't looked into his eyes when I asked. When I finally looked up Paul was beaming. Poco was cussing. And aunt Kris was rolling her eyes.

"Only if I get to surprise you with everything." He said with another smirk, I nodded it was all I was capable of at the moment. Paul walked by and squeezed my hand as he went outside to get back to work. Poco was gawking at me.

"You have changed a lot." He seemed unnecessarily angry with me.

"What is wrong with you? Don't you want me to be happy?" I asked him. We'd been friends and playmates for so long. I even remembered when Miss. Maria's gave birth to Poco. He was like my little brother, my little friend. I missed him.

"You don't even _know _him." He said with a whining tone.

"Yeah, and neither do you." I said and walked away. I turned back to face him again. "At least I'm trying." I walked away and almost ran smack into Jo.

"Ouch. I'm sorry Jo." His expression left something to be desired. "How's your day going?"

"Guess?" he brushed past me. I just stood there stunned; I'd had enough of this behavior.

"I'm _sorry_. Have you forgotten three years ago? Huh?" I was done with his bullshit anger, I was ready to fight this out. I wanted to date Paul, and that was all.

"What? I thought you were the one that said you wouldn't be dating anyone this summer." I did say that.

"Yeah, I know. And what did you say to me three years ago. Please let us not forget." I crossed my arms and stuck out a hip.

"I remember. I told you to go. I told you that if you couldn't stay then there was no reason even coming back." He said quietly. I looked into those eyes that I had once spent so much time looking into.

"Even though you knew I could never stay. There was no possible way that would happen. We were sixteen. I couldn't stay no matter how much I wanted to." I replied. "And you knew that, you knew that and you didn't care. You pushed me away anyway."

"Lila-" I walked away and didn't turn back, I couldn't hear what he had to say. I didn't want to; maybe coming here was a mistake. I thought three years would be enough time to heal. I spent the rest of my afternoon brooding away in my room, I wasn't convinced I could stay and handle the pain associated with Jo. Three years for a love that was as known to me as my name. I decided to take a walk to clear my head. I walked in the pasture and watched the horses running. It was then that I saw my reason for staying. Paul. He was brushing Jezebel; I watched the grace in his movements. He waved at me and gestured for me to go over to him. I cautiously approached him; I was still embarrassed. Hopelessly-head-over-heels for this guy. I'd had more than my fair share of crushes. This felt strangely different.

"Hey, you." I said awkwardly, it was just good to be around him even if I was being awkward.

"Hey." He stopped working and just stared at me. The day was cooling down and getting gradually darker. I loved this time a day especially in the Northwest.

"So, I'm wondering something." I was managing to gradually break free of my embarrassment.

"Shoot." He said smiling. I love his smile, he had straight beautifully white teeth it had a pleasing effect contrasting his skin tone.

"Why is it I can't seem to get you off my mind?" I said with a serious look. "What kind of voodoo have you worked on me?"

"Well, it took some time to workout. I knew that I needed to get a job here so that we could randomly meet. Then I put magic attraction dust in your coffee." He said matching me in seriousness. "But what I didn't count on was me not being able to get you off my mind."

"I see." I rubbed my chin. "Now that I've caught you red handed, what should I do with you?" Now it was Paul's turn to blush. I stared at him intensely and he ended up matching my gaze.

"I guess you will just have to kiss me." He said and took a step closer, I could see the extreme lust in his eyes and it frightened me a little.

"Oh. I guess I could do that. Close your eyes." I took a step so that I inhaled his scent. My breath caught in my throat, he smelled amazing. Boys usually smelled good, but there was something else there. He smelled…permanent. Maybe better way to explain it is that he smelled like campfire and pine and something else I couldn't identify. I bent closer and kissed his on the cheek. Being that close was intoxicating, I hated myself for pulling away. He opened his eyes and the intensity in his eyes sent shivers down my spine. All I kept thinking was: this date is gonna be good.


	4. The Date

Paul

Advice of the week:

If you feel like no one in the world cares about you, try missing a car payment.

Paul

I was floating. She liked me. She liked me and we were going on a date. Nothing could stop my high not even Seth and Collin laughing at me. Well…

"Look at him! Ahahaha, it's like she have a leash around his bal-" I punched him square in the jaw. "Ouuuaaawww"

"Defensive much." Leah said walking by.

"ahaha you.are.so.in.for.it" Collin said between fits of laughter. I lunged for him but he was too fast. He continued to laugh and I couldn't help phasing. I probably phased the most compared with my other pack members. I'd grown accustomed to getting my clothes off fast enough for them not to get ripped. I had to wear a lot of Goodwill clothes for the first few months but I was pretty adaptable. Whereas when Collin phased right before I landed on him, he ripped his pants, at least he managed to get his shoes off in time. I laughed at Collin as he struggled underneath me. I looked down at the pup he was about three-fourths my size. I bit his arm and drew blood so that I was sure to assert my dominance. Collin phased back and grabbed his arm; I phased back and put my pants on.

"Geez Paul, you didn't need to bite me like that." He whined. I liked Collin; he was the younger guy that I looked after. I was kind of his older brother; I had been there when he started changing. I sat with him holding his hand as he screamed and burned up with a fever. He was my special pup. Jake looked after Seth and Leah and Sam watched everyone.

"Calm down. You aren't dying, look at your stupid arm, it is fine." I said and walked over to the kitchen. "Emily, can I ask for some advice?"

"Always." She had a secret smile that had some kind of 'girl' meaning to it, I probably didn't want to know.

"So, Lila. What do you think?" I asked Emily; I had a great respect for Emily. She was always and forever would be the pack mother, probably even after I started ageing. I trusted her about as much as I trusted Sam, maybe more.

"Considering that I haven't met her… It's hard to say, Paul." She was smiling her 'secret' smile.

"What? What are you smiling about?" I was getting frustrated with her; I had told Emily all about Lila.

"Paul. We've known each other a long, long time and I have never seen you this happy. I don't care if this girl is a monster or absurdly beautiful, she might be your imprint."

"What? You're crazy." I started walking away, but Sam stopped me, I turned back to face Emily.

"I just want you to accept the possibility. I certainly don't know how it works; I just know that a few weeks ago you never would have asked me about this girls." She continued to smile.

"Paul, I can't get the image of this girl out of my head. It reminds me of when Jared imprinted. You just can't see it because… well no one expected _you _to imprint, I guess not even you." Sam was joking but it was still kind of true. I had been really bitter, deep down I resented being a werewolf. I loved it and I hated it; it gave me a sense of belonging. I needed them in my life, but I hated that I wasn't normal. I craved normality.

"Emily, where should I take Lila on our date? What should I wear? Help." She raised an eyebrow. "_Please_."

"Alright, later tonight I'll talk you through everything." She said rolling her eyes and she chuckled in her graceful way.

I made her cookies. I liked to bake and I was really good at it; it was just a stupid talent that I got teased for a lot. Emily was the only one who accepted me for me and encouraged my talents, no matter how girlie. I made her chocolate peanut butter cookies.

"Aww thank you Paul, you know how much I love your cooking." I blushed a little; I had a hard time accepting compliments.

"Alright, let's get down to business." I said and I got out a pen and paper to take notes with, I didn't want to screw this up. "Where should we go to dinner?"

"I don't know this Lila girl, but the best date I ever had with Sam was on the cliffs. We had a picnic at sunset, it was perfect. You could have told me that the world would end in five minutes and there was no place I'd rather have been." Emily was reliving the moment and I could almost see it through her eyes. Picnic at sunset, I cooked, Lila glowing in the dimming sun. She would love it. It would be amazing.

"Emily, I love it. Thank you. What should I wear?" I asked looking down, I only ever wore shorts and shoes, sometimes not even shoes. At work I would wear my boots and some kind of pants. It wasn't much, but this was just my life. I would be stuck at twenty five at the strongest of my youth for god knows how long and I wanted to be free. Clothing seemed to be optional.

"Well, for starters you must wear a shirt and a nice one." I gave her a look. "Ok you can borrow one of Sam's. Nice shoes, not your work boots and real pants. No stains!" she warned as I stalked off to Sam's room. I tried on a few 'nice' shirts and Emily basically said yea or nay.

"What about this one." It was a dark green, almost exactly the color of my eyes. I hadn't ever seen Sam wear it before.

"Perfect. Just be sure to call 911 when her heart stops." Emily said with a smirk. "You are going to do great!"

"I should call her now and tell her what time I'll be picking her up." Emily nodded and walked with me to the kitchen. I dialed the number of Langdon Farms, it rang once, twice, someone picked up.

"This is Langdon Farms how may I help you?" it was Pedro, Maria's oldest son. He was a cool guy and seemed to be the only brother that didn't hate me.

"Hey Pedro, how are things going?" I asked cheerfully, this guy made sure I would get paid, I had to be nice.

"Good man, how are you?" he seemed genuine enough, I liked Pedro.

"Fine fine, hey could you connect me with Lila?" I asked hopefully.

"Yeah, of course. I hear you two have a _date. _My little bro messed that one up bad, I know you won't do the same. If you do, I'll kill you. Hold on a sec." He was connecting me, they really were like her brothers. Overprotective brothers.

"Hey Paul! How are you?" I froze at the sound of her voice; I wished I were with her. I wanted to tell her how much I wanted to be with her. "Paul?"

"I want to see you, I mean, I'll be picking you up at 7:30 tomorrow. You know, for our date." I smacked myself on the forehead. Why? Why was I such an idiot?

"Sure, Paul." She sounded like she was smiling; she seemed pleased. "I can't wait. Any hints about where we're going?"

"Heh, not a chance." She had so much natural grace on the phone while I stuttered and sounded like a moron. Who was I kidding? How could she ever like me back?

"Because you are wonderful and a catch." Emily replied to my thoughts.

"How did you-"

"I don't need to _hear _your thoughts to understand." She looked at me again and I was grateful. Emily was truly amazing.

Lila

"What about this?" I did a 360˚ slow turn for my aunt, she was snickering. I was wearing a pale yellow summer dress with red flowers.

"It's nice Lila, but it's a little dressy. Where did he say you were going, again?" she was eyeing me.

"That's the problem! He didn't." I took that dress off and put a green one on, this one was a little dressier with nice beadwork. "This?"

"No, that's way too dressy." My aunt reminded me. It was pretty and I liked it, too bad. I changed into a sapphire blue dress that was an everyday dress and brought out my eyes nicely.

"Ok, what about this?" I bit my lip and looked down; I liked the shape of this dress. I looked at my aunt Kris and she was smiling sadly at me. "Is it really that bad?"

"Oh no. I'm just being silly, you look so beautiful. I'm so glad you're here for the summer." I ran over to her and hugged her.

"I think this is the one." I said and continued picking out shoes and putting on make-up.

Of course I got ready too early and of course I was nervous. What would I say? What if _I _was boring? What if _he _didn't talk much? I was pacing excitedly in the entry; I stared out the window occasionally looking for his small red car. Breathe, I felt a pack of butterflies swarm my stomach. He was officially two minutes late. Two. Minutes. What did that mean? Was he busy getting ready and lost track of time? Did he not care enough to be punctual? Oh god, even I was starting to annoy myself. Two minutes meant nothing; it maybe meant that my watch was fast. I jump about a foot and a half when the doorbell rang. I scrambled to the door and made it just before Poco who almost beat me there. I opened it and shut it quickly behind me. My eyes focused on Paul who was standing with wide eyes and his mouth hung open a little. I felt my face turn red and I smiled sweetly at him. He looked good. He was wearing a deep green shirt that brought out the color of his eyes beautifully. The shirt was a little tight but instead of looking stupid it showed off the tight muscles of his chest and stomach. I sighed and realized that we'd been staring at each other for a full minute without saying anything. I swallowed.

"I guess I didn't overdress or under-dress for whatever you have planned." I could have kicked myself. What a stupid thing to say. Why wasn't I born with a functioning brain?

"You look, I mean, I think you." I couldn't understand exactly where he was going with this, and he was obviously kicking himself. His hands shook a little, which was strange.

"I look nice?" I asked and he nodded vigorously, he took a breath.

"You look more beautiful than I can put in words, obviously." He said calmly and took my hand. He opened the door and helped me into his car. He ran to the other side of the car amazingly fast.

"So, where are we going?" I asked hopefully.

"Not a chance." He said and smiled. I could tell that he was trying hard to act normal. He drove and we made small talk until he pulled over. I was startled; this wasn't a restaurant. I was about to reach for the door but Paul was already there opening the door. He took my hand in his. His hand was so much larger than mine and warm. He opened the trunk of his car and pulled out a picnic basket, and I smiled. He led me over to one of the cliffs and laid out a blanket, I sat down and enjoyed the scenery while Paul set everything up. I was lost in the push and pull of the surf, it was mesmerizing. I smelled an amazing aroma and looked over. My jaw dropped.

"No. You bought all of this?" I looked at him dumbfounded. This meal must have cost a fortune, it looked gourmet.

"Uh, well not exactly." He looked down.

"Please don't tell you me you stole it!" he didn't seem like the type, not at all. Paul seemed good and wonderful.

"Haha, no." he chuckled lightly; a blush was spreading to his face. "I made it, I mean I cooked and baked it." I was speechless; good-looking, gentlemanly, and he could cook.

"Well, if it tastes as good as it smells I may never leave." I was beaming at him, but his expression darkened.

"When will you go back?" he asked quietly. I really didn't want to think about that.

"Classes will start back up September 24th." I would be returning to school in North Carolina instead of back to Tennessee. My parents didn't seem to care much what I did as long as my grades were good.

"That's a long time." He said simply. I decided to dig into the dinner; he had made some kind of fancy pizza. It had sun dried tomatoes, olive oil, basil and proscuitto. It was amazing and a moan escaped my lips.

"This, is, really, good." I said between chewing. My mother would have killed me if she knew I had spoken with food in my mouth. I laughed at the thought, I must have seemed crazy.

"What's so funny?" Paul asked, he seemed a little worried.

"Nothing serious; just my mother would kill me is she were here. So, I'm very very glad that she is not." I smiled and it was Paul's turn to laugh he gestured to his teeth. I found a huge piece of basil stuck there. "Yeeeah, that's embarrassing."

"Not at all." Paul smiled and stuck a piece of prosuitto in his teeth. I laughed and just enjoyed the moment of unbelievable happiness. The meal continued and each course was more amazing than the last. After we'd consumed everything (mostly due to Paul), he ate a lot. I had spent every summer with three very hungry boys, and a year of college with huge football players but never had I seen someone consume as much food as Paul. Maybe a national champion hotdog eater.

"Oof I think I ate my weight in deliciousness." I said laying back using my coat as a pillow. The sun was setting and I'd never been happier. I looked over at Paul and smiled serenely. His expression shifted suddenly, it was something I couldn't understand. He almost seemed scared. "Are you going to be sick? You practically ate a pig's worth of proscuitto."

"No, it's not that." He shook his head, and forced a smile. "I'm fine, really."

"You don't seem fine. Did I do something wrong?" he was starting to worry me; his expression didn't seem bad, just intense. Almost like he was solving a hard math problem but was happy doing it.

"No, you are perfect." He shook his head and didn't look away from me for a second. I cocked my head and raised my eyebrows. "You are amazing and beautiful and far beyond what I deserve."

"No, I'm not, I promise. But thank you, I'm sorry you were mistaken." I said gently and took his hand instead he kissed it never breaking my gaze. I shivered and he pulled me so I was sitting next to him with his arm around me. I was instantly warmed. I sighed and laid my head against Paul's chest.

"Can we never leave?" Paul asked quietly but his words rumbled against my head.

"Paul, I think I really like you." I didn't know exactly where that came from, but I knew I meant it. I was extremely comfortable with him; I realized that there was no other place I wanted to be. I thought about having to leave him eventually and go home. I tried to prepare myself for that moment of saying goodbye for the night.

"Lila." He pulled away so that I was facing him. I wondered if he was going to kiss me. I licked my lips, they were dry, typical. He leaned in a little then pulled back. "I'm not a good person. I'm trouble; you shouldn't get mixed up with me."

"You're crazy. I'm already mixed up with you and I love it." I looked at him curiously. He had never given me any indication of being a bad person, I trusted him. "I like you a lot, if anything I want to see you more if at all possible."

"I've done terrible things. Things that you wouldn't like." He said. I put my hand of his feverish cheek. I flinched at the heat.

"I don't care. I'll forgive you your past, if you forgive me mine." I said remembering the line from a movie I'd just seen, it applied. "What is it you're so worried about?"

"Uh, it's complicated." I gave him a look. "I'll tell you about it sometime." He sounded a little too casual.

"Man of many secrets, hmm?" I rolled my eyes and stood up to look at the surf again. The sun was sinking into the blue/green horizon. I felt Paul's strong arms around my waist. I shivered despite myself; I was still a little irked that he was withholding things.

"There are things I can't tell you." He murmured to my neck, more shivers. "God you smell amazing. Please forgive me."

"I suppose." I didn't like secrets, never had. I didn't like having them, I didn't like keeping them for other people and I didn't like not knowing them. I turned around to face Paul and put on my best scolding face. "I don't like secrets, not one bit. They only causes problems in my experience."

"I _promise _to tell you all about it soon." he said with a slight grin it looked more like a twitch. I could wait. Patience, I had to remind myself is a virtue. I took a deep breath and nodded.

"Ok. Are you ready to go?" I asked with the best smile I could muster. Paul's eyes were sad, he seemed torn. He was still keeping me waiting for an answer it was starting to get awkward. He was thinking and I couldn't understand what was going on exactly, he almost looked like he was listening.

"My friends want to meet you." He said finally. I looked at him like he was crazy and he shrugged.

"Um ok? This is our first date you do remember that right?" I said cautiously, if he didn't have a perfect body and such a good soul I would be temped to run. I looked into those beautiful eyes and I knew that he really wasn't crazy, and I really _did _like him. "Ok I will meet them, in time. Can we go now? It's getting cold."

"Yeah of course." He stepped closer and put his arms around me, I wasn't cold any longer and Paul seemed relieved. I smiled into his chest and looked up at him, he was about six inches taller than me and I was wearing heels. He got an intense look in his eye and his smile turned into concentration. All I could think was: Isn't there a rule about not kissing on the first date? Oh god, I want to kiss him more than anything.

"Oh." I breathed and licked my lips in preparation, they were a little dry. I was so comfortable in his arms, I hated that we would need to leave this space. I sighed as we just looked into each other's eyes. It was starting to get really dark then sun was almost completely submerged in the ocean.

"Do you know how amazingly beautiful you are?" I broke his gaze and smiled, I only felt beautiful in his arms.

"Aww shucks. You know just what to say, don't you?" I leaned in a little closer hoping he would take the bait. He did and leaned in closer as well. With our faces so close I could smell him better and took it in as much as possible. There was a strange spark between us, something so permanent it scared me. With a pounding heart and sweating palms Paul kissed me. It was beautiful and perfect. His lips were so soft but firm and ignited a swarm of butterflies within my stomach. I pulled him closer but instead he pushed back and bolted away from me into the forest.


	5. Pack Approval

Advice of the Week:

Advice of the Week:

Don't be normal, be extraordinary.

Paul

I watched her from the forest. She was standing here in shock. I had kissed her then phased. I almost phased right in mid-kiss. I had to run and phase in the forest because I'd been so overcome with something…emotion? I couldn't understand it exactly. What was I going to say to her? Oh Lila, your kiss makes me freak out and turn into a werewolf. No.

"_What do I tell her?" I sent out to the others._

"_Idiot, poor girl. I were Lila I would be extremely offended." Leah offered. _

"_Don't be such a bitch." Seth countered._

"_Just tell her you heard something in the forest, say someone was screaming for help." Jared suggested._

"_Thanks Jared."_

I phased back and put the clothes back on, I took a deep breath. I'd never been a good liar or a good actor. I walked back quickly and with purpose.

"What that hell was that Paul?" Lila looked really hurt.

"You didn't hear the screaming? Yeah, someone in the forest was screaming for help." I said quickly, I walked toward the car and started putting things away. I wanted to beat my head against the car; that would only cost money.

"No Paul I didn't hear any screaming. Well," she waited, "what happened?" shit shit shit, I don't know…

"It just turned out to be two kids playing. They were screaming for help, I'm really sorry Lila." I was at least sincere in my apology. If anything I wished I could kiss her again, but Lila wasn't happy with me now.

"Whatever, can we just go?" she I tried to beat her to open the car for her but she got in herself. I felt like I'd been kick in the gut and then force fed acid. The drive was silent. Lila really didn't want to talk to me, she wouldn't even look at me.

"What's wrong? Please tell me." I asked, I was trying to watch the road but it was so hard.

"Uh well for starters you kiss me then run away. That can't be a good thing Paul." She looked like she was going to cry. "I really liked you. Obviously, I was way off base. So _I'm_ sorry."

"No, nonono." We'd arrived and Lila was going to bolt. She did but I had the ultimate advantage, being a werewolf and all. I maneuvered myself to get in front of her; she stopped and put both hands on her hips. "Let me make this up to you. Please."

"I guess." She shrugged and I sighed. I hadn't lost her, yet. I cupped her face with my hand and I could tell that she wanted to warm up to me again, but my running off had gotten in the way. I stepped closer and bent in to kiss her quickly, her lips were still but I could tell that I was forgiven at least a little. I watched her walk up the front porch and before she stepped through the door she turned back and gave me a small smile. Good.

"I want her to meet all of you." I said finally at the meeting. They all knew who I was talking about and Sam was frowning.

"You don't know this girl very well." Sam said quietly, he knew how much I liked her. They all knew that I had imprinted, the only thing separating us was _the secret_.

"Please, Sam. You know how I feel about Lila. Can she at least meet you all and then we can decide what to do?" I pleaded. Sam looked at Emily for approval, she looked at me smiled and nodded. I knew that she would love them, and they would love her. If they didn't love her I would _make _them love her and vice versa.

"Will you come?" I asked on bated breath, she had to come I needed her to come. She was squinting in the sun and had spent a long, hard day horseback riding. She was tanned and beautiful. "They will all love you. I promise."

"I'm not sure you've made up for our first date enough." She played coy with me and I smiled. "What if they don't like me? What if I don't like them?"

"You like everyone." She shook her head and started to protest. "Name one person you don't like? Or someone that doesn't like you?"

"Jo _and _Poco don't seem too terrible fond of me right now." She pouted a little.

"Nah, they love you I can see it when they look at you. They'll come around." I put one hand on her soft shoulder. She smirked devilishly and stepped closer. I get nervous mostly because I didn't know if I could control myself. She just felt too damn good to resist. Our foreheads touched and I breathed her in; I knew that if there were one scent I could smell for the rest of my life it would be Lila. This time she kissed me, sweetly and so soft. I wanted to cry, I wanted to run, I wanted to feel everything and nothing at all. I could feel my hands shake and I wanted to die. I wanted to die so badly because I knew I would hurt her, again. I pulled away and my shaking calmed, I took a deep breath and forced a smile. Why did I have to be so stupid? Why did my biology have to be so incredibly stupid?

"You're gonna need to do a _little _better than that." Lila teased, she leaned in to kiss me again but I pulled away. I knew that that would be a mistake, I'd barely gotten myself under control.

"Please come with an open mind." I said quietly and scurried off to finish my work.

"Hey!" she yelled after me. I turned around and walked backwards.

"The faster I finish the more time I get with you tonight." I yelled back. I could only make out the white glint of her smile. I ran almost full force to the horse corral and I ended up scaring a few of the younger horses.

Lila

"Miss. Maria." I whined, my legs were really sore from riding all day. I was in a truly weakened condition when Paul kissed me. "You know I love you, right?"

"Of course, chica." She smiled and continued folding laundry, her eyes seemed sad and I wasn't sure why. Also, she'd been quieter than usual.

"Hey what's wrong? Where are you right now?" this was a game we used to play over the years, when one of us would "space out" or get a lost look we'd ask the other person where they were. Then the other person would say a place they'd rather be.

"Oh chica, we're both too old for that old game." Miss. Maria loved that game when I was kid. I made a sad face and Miss. Maria sighed and took a moment to pick a place. "I am in Paris France and it is night time. The Eiffle Tower is sparkling and I'm drinking champagne."

"Sounds perfect, and thank you." I walked over and hugged her quickly. "Please tell me what's wrong."

"Alright, but you can't say nothing about it."

"Anything. I can't say-" I stopped myself, she hated it when I corrected her grammer. "I promise."

"They boys are upset with you, ok? They don't like Paul, I think it is because they love you so much. You know, we all love you. Lila, please. Is this Paul boy really that special to you?" her eyes were pleading and they stung a little. I was taken aback. I didn't even need to think about an answer to that. Paul was special and I couldn't even explain it to myself.

"When you know, you know. Wasn't it like that for you when You met Pedro Senior? Didn't you just _feel _it?" I'd heard the story a million times, Miss. Maria had known her husband three months before they got married. They'd been married twenty-five years when he died.

"Oh chica, I don't know. Pedro was so different, he was so special." She seemed terribly sad.

"Paul is really special. You know me Miss. Maria, I'm not usually like this." She nodded.

"Then you have my blessing. Just be safe." She smiled weakly at me. I was starting to get worried. My aunt, my friends, and my Miss. Maria were all worried about me and Paul. To bad because tonight was the night that I would meet Paul's friends.

"Ok, I think I'm ready." I said as Paul came to the door.

"You look-" he started but I cut him off.

"Too dressy? I can go put on jeans, if you want." My mind was racing and I felt a little sick. Meeting the friends, especially ones that were super tight knit like how Paul's friends sounded.

"Well most of the boys won't be wearing shirts…" he was smiling and I noticed that _he _was wearing a shirt.

"Won't you stick out?" I asked slyly. He shrugged and stripped his shirt off. He knew the effect his perfect body had on me. I was swooning like usual. "Fine."

"Where are you going?" he asked with a grin, I didn't answer. It took me all of two minutes to decide what to wear. I pulled my hair back into a pony tail and changed into jeans and a cute top. I took my wedges off and put on nice tennis shoes. Perfect.

"Let's go." Paul was laughing and I walked to the car and let myself in. I'd grown up with 'Southern Gentlemen' all my life. When they were good gentlemen they would expect some kind of reward. I was probably the only girl in the world who wasn't looking for gentlemen. A gentleman in spirit is just what I'm looking for; he doesn't need to do any of the other stuff. I was feeling more and more nervous as Paul drove to his friend's house. I just wanted to make a good impression. I'd never had friends outside of the farm. I seen people around La Push that seemed like they could be cool, I couldn't be sure though. Paul parked the car in front of a painfully small house on some tiny Indian Reservation in La Push.

"Ok you ready?" Paul seemed nervous which only served to make me _more _nervous. I was a tough Southern Girl and never backed down from a challenge. Especially, a situation that might require some kind of utilization of social grace.

"I am always ready, thank you." I said with the thickest southern accent I could bring myself to use.

"You-you don't really talk like that, at home I mean?" I only served to make him more nervous.

"Heh, I guess you won't really know, sugar." I added the 'sugar' for effect. I patted him on the back and knocked the door. Paul gave me a look, opened the front door, and just walked through. I felt really stupid and walked in after Paul. The living room and kitchen felt well used and cozy. I was startled by a girl only a little older than myself standing in the kitchen. Her back was to us, I walked in and sat down at the kitchen table with Paul.

"Hi, I'm Lila." I said with a hint of southern accent, I couldn't help myself. It perked up when I was nervous.

"Oh! It's so nice to meet you, Paul has told me so much about you." The woman turned around and startled me. Half of her face was incredibly beautiful and the other half was terribly scarred.

"Oh." I wanted to cry and go hug her. I took a deep breath and steadied myself.

"Bear accident, I was stupid and the bear attacked. Would you like some iced tea?" she asked sweetly. I knew I shouldn't ask so I bit my lip.

"You never make iced tea, Emily. What's up?" Paul was eyeing her suspiciously and with a grin.

"I just thought Lila would like food and such and reminds her of home. And I like cornbread." Emily shrugged. "You don't mind do you?"

"No, not at all." I said weakly. Southern cuisine was amazing when made by the right people. Northerners just couldn't cut it when it came to barbeque. I took a gulp of iced tea and tried not to make my smile too forced. It wasn't like home, not even close. Before Emily could notice my fakeness, four boys gracefully lunged themselves into the kitchen. They were all perfectly sculpted and tanned. Paul introduced me to Sam, Seth, Collin and Jared. I was shocked to learn that three of the four were still in high school. There were huge and gladly ate all the barbeque in a matter of minutes. I was finishing off my cornbread when the guys started getting rowdy.

"Do you remember that one time-" Seth couldn't finish because Jared had lept across the table and the two boys tumbled together for a solid five minutes. Everyone, including myself, laughed the whole time. What was strange is that Seth hadn't even said what was so funny. How did Jared know it was about him? I gave Emily a confused look and she just shrugged. I felt like Emily and I were kindred spirits but I wasn't sure why, the guys were still wrestling around so I walked over to talk to Emily.

"Hey, thanks for cooking that was really sweet." I said gratefully.

"Oh it's nothing, I cook for these rascals just about everyday." She smiled. "My southern cooking wasn't very good was it?" the was she was scrutinizing my face I could tell I wouldn't be able to lie to this girl.

"Heh, no sorry. I'm used to old uncle Joe's pulled pork sandwiches that he's been making for over forty years." Emily laughed and I was relieved. I had the realization that I could really be myself with these people.

"I guess I'll cook some salmon next time." We both laughed and I enjoyed myself.

"Where are all the girls?" I asked. We had five good looking boys and only two girls.

"Oh, they should be here any minute." She looked a little worried. Two giggling girl stumbled in; one girl was huge, almost like she was one of the guys. The other was a plain girl who went and sat bashfully on Jared's lap. They seemed very much in love, which was encouraging. Emily and I walked back in and I was introduced to Leah and Kim. They both made me feel really comfortable.

"Welcome to that pack." Kim said sweetly.

"The pack?" I questioned, Paul had said the same thing before. "Why do y'all call yourselves that?"

"Oh." Sam started, he seemed a little nervous. "We are like, us, wolves. We stick close to each other and, uh, are dog-like." The room felt really tense with his weak explanation left hanging in the air. Looking at all their expecting faces I had to laugh. They all burst out laughing as well.

"No, really." I said between laughs. "What are you guys? Should I be worried about Paul when there's a full moon." The laughing slowed down and I looked around at the nervous faces.

"I think we should maybe talk about something." Paul took my hand and led me outside. Looking at his anxious face I had to wonder.


	6. Believe it or Not

Advice for the week:

Advice for the week:

Be patient, it's harder than hell at times, but it pays off…eventually.

Paul

Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. How could I do this? Can I do this? I need to tell her what I am and how I feel. Shit.

"_Calm down, you're driving me crazy." Leah yelled._

"What is it, Paul? Are you ok? You look like you're gonna throw up." Lila was too beautiful that my mind went blank. "Paul? Hello? Earth to Paul."

"Lila, I know that we haven't known each other that long, and I know that we've been dating for a really short time." I paused, the more I said the cold truth the more I didn't want to tell her yet.

"Paul, stop." She put her cool, soft hands on my burning-hot face. Her eyes were so sweet and caring. "You can tell me anything or everything, I'm not going anywhere. Well, not yet at least."

"Ok, here we go." I took a deep breath. "I have a certain _condition._"

"Oh, my gosh! Are you ok? Are you _terminal_?" she looked like she might start crying.

"Nononono! Oh no! _Not _like _that_ kind of condition. I'm just…a werewolf." Lila looked so relieved almost like she hadn't heard me.

"You are a what?" a look of utter disbelief crossed her face, she crossed her arms.

"I am a werewolf." I held my breath and waited for a reaction.

"So you turn into a big fuzzy thing every full moon?" She asked with humor in her eyes. Not the mean humor just a calm and sweet humor.

"It doesn't work exactly like that." I replied. Lila just shrugged.

"Ooook." She clearly didn't believe me; we walked to the car and I started driving home.

"So do you believe me?" I asked lamely.

"I believe that you _think _you are a werewolf." She replied trying to stifle a laugh. I had to laugh too because she had no idea how much of a werewolf I actually am.

"Whatever, are you freaked out?" I kept my eyes on the road even though with my werewolf senses I didn't really need to.

"No way. Look Paul, I really like you and if you have a few _quarks_ I don't really care. I think it's cute you like wolves so much." She giggled a little. "I've always had a secret fascination with wolves."

"Nice. So my friends all liked you. They wanted me to let you know." I shrugged and Lila brightened. She blushed a little then got a confused look.

"I liked them too. But, how do you know that they liked me? You didn't even get a chance to talk to them after you dragged me away." She laughed, I could tell that she was glad that they liked her.

"It's a werewolf thing." I teased her. I could feel that she was rolling her eyes at me. "What?"

"I'm sorry Paul." She said between laughs. "It's.just.super.cute.that.you.think. that you are a werewolf." She continued laughing. I pulled the car over and walked outside; Lila followed and seemed distressed. I had a hard time with people laughing at me and I needed a little air.

"Lila!" I realized how harsh my voice sounded and I took a few deep breaths. "Lila, you are so special to me. More special than I feel like I can express."

"Oh Paul." Her face had a mix of emotions playing. I needed her to understand how extreme my feelings happened to be. I got down on one knee so that we could be more on the same level. "You better not propose to me right now."

It was my turn to laugh. "No, I promise. Lila, I _am _a werewolf. I would show you right now but I don't trust myself to phase in front of you. I wouldn't want anything bad to happen." I further explained all the nitty gritty details of werewolf-dom. Lila kept a straight face through all of my explanation. I knew that the information was sinking in, but she didn't believe a word of it.

"That's all very interesting Paul. You are so cute." I felt like she was patronizing me. I got off my knees and took a few steps away. I turned back and stared hard at her.

"Lila, I love you." She looked like I had slapped her.

"I-uh thank you. I think I might really love you too." It was almost like as she was saying the words she was realizing the truth to it. "Oh!"

"Is that such a surprise? We are just about perfect for each other." I was being overly cocky now to help ease her sudden realizing. "Lila, I knew that I loved you the moment we met."

She looked scared and almost hurt. "This is too strange. I need some time to think this over. I can't-I can't _be _in love with you because I will be leaving at the end of the summer. I walked over to her and put my arms around her. She let me just hold her. I couldn't let our relationship remain on a timeline.

"I'm sorry that I have to leave." her drawl was thick now, she was so good at hiding her roots.

"This relationship doesn't have to mean anything if you don't want it to mean anything. I can tell you what it means to me." Lila was just watching me, I did my best to stay calm. "I don't know if I even want to hear this. I don't want things to be any harder. Can't we just…have fun?" she didn't seem like she even believed me.

"I have imprinted on you." I took a deep breath and held it; I hadn't meant to blurt this out, but I did.

"So what? I'm like your mommy?" she let out some nervous laughter. "Now, that would just be a disappointment." She stepped closer to me and put her hands on my chest. I could feel my pulse quicken and a slow bush spread across my cheeks.

"Not _exactly_." I took another deep breath to build the nerve to explain imprinting. "Normal people search their whole lives to find a soul mate. There is a phenomenon among us werewolves. After our genes are activated and we've been werewolves for a while something happens and we fall in love-"

"Aww puppy love." Lila made a cute face even though she was teasing.

"Anyway, we fall in love but it is something really special. There is this deep connection, the best way to explain it is that it is more than a soul mate. There is something much more _supernatural_ about imprinting. It means, well, I am here for you for whatever you need me to be." I was waiting for her to react.

"Oh? Is that all?" she started laughing that sweet musical laugh of hers. This obviously wasn't sinking in, she didn't understand the severity of what our relationship meant to me. "You had me worried for a minute because I-" I cut her off with the most passionate knee shaking, heart melting, fall-on-your-knees-and-thank-god kiss I could muster. I hope that in one passionate kiss I could express how deeply I cared for Lila.

Lila

No words. There isn't a single word or phrase to explain what happened. I'd seen Paul as a townie guy who was incredibly good looking, sweet, smart, funny, and interesting. I never thought that one kiss from this amazing guy could make me forget everything. The kiss made me forget everything except the two of us. It took me five solid minutes to remember that I even had a family to get home to. All day Paul had gotten stranger and stranger, telling me that he is a werewolf. He managed to work up this elaborate explanation of what being a werewolf entails. It would make for a great premise to a book, but I didn't think it could be real. He even said his friends were werewolves. I loved his friends; I had made a connection with each and every one of them. I just didn't buy it; but the imprinting idea was sweet. I almost swooned when he said that he would be whatever I needed him to be. Strange but at least he was sweet. I hadn't realized exactly how much we liked each other. No. He didn't just _like _me, he actually _loved _me.

"Hey Paul!" he was shoveling horse crap, like usual.

"Oh, hey you!" He ran over and kissed me on the mouth for a good five seconds. I loved that he made every kiss count. Every time Paul kissed me it felt like he thought it would be our last kiss. And every time he kissed me it sent shivers down my spine. He had tasted faintly of sweat and mint. "What's up? I'd hug you but…"

"Yeah, no problem." He wasn't wearing a shirt and his perfectly sculpted chest was gleaming in the sun. "So I heard this weird noise last night."

"Oh?" he was still working while I sat on the fence watching him work. He was such eye candy.

"Yeah, it was strange. It sounded like a wolf howling; you weren't stalking me were you?" I teased. Paul gave me a look. He didn't seem to like my werewolf jokes; I watched him take a deep breath.

"Lila, I love you but I still can't believe that you don't believe me." He shrugged and looked disappointed. I couldn't help myself, belief can be a hard pill to swallow.

"I'm sorry wolf-boy but it's just so unlikely." I smiled and jumped off the fence I leaned over for a kiss before I went back to work but Paul just shook his head.

"I need some time to think." He frowned and I felt bad.

"I love you, even if you are a wolf-boy." I smiled.

"Yeah, love you too." He muttered and continued with his work. I was too lost in thought to notice José watching me. We hadn't hung out for a long time; I had spent just about every free moment I had with Paul and his friends. So much time that I was forgetting my own friends. I continued walking oblivious to José, but with the distinct feeling that I was being watched. It was a large farm and just about anyone could walk in and do who-knows-what with innocent farm-girls. I took a deep-calming breath and turned around quickly to see Jo standing there watching me.

"Oh my stars!" I couldn't help it; my mother always said this to me as a child.

"Hello, Lila. Long time no see." His voice was monotone and flat, this made me a little nervous.

"Hey there, you." I said weakly. "It is _so _good to see you, but I should get back to work." I turned to leave but Jo was one step ahead of me. He'd gotten fast and he looked different, sadder and paler.

"What is with the southern accent? You didn't used to have one. Don't take this the wrong way but it makes you sound stupid." He said maliciously.

"Welp," I popped the p. "Paul likes it and I don't have to be so careful with my speech anymore. This is who I am, Jo, and I am beginning to love it." I turned again but Jo was there in front of me still. He was so _fast_.

"You two are very _close _these days, no?" I really didn't like his tone now. Now, he was starting to scare me. Worst of all, we were so far out that no one would hear me scream. Shit.

"Yeah, we are close. He's really great." I said backing away slowly.

"DON'T tell me he is great." Jo spat at me, "I don't want to hear it, Lila. Why do you call him wolf-boy? Is there something different about Paul?" he was walking closer to me now. It was time to lie, time to lie my ass off.

"It's because he is so harry. You've seen his arms, you know." I looked down, when I looked back at Jo he had a strange expression on his face and I noticed that his eyes were eerily dark.

"I think you are lying to me. Lila, I never thought of _you _as a liar." He smiled darkly at me and I froze. Behind José, my not-so-sweet-anymore Jo, was the biggest dog/horse thing I'd ever seen in my life. It was the shape of a dog but the size of our largest horse. A few months ago this would have scared me shitless, but for some reason I felt calm and safe in this monster's presence.

"Wolf-boy, indeed." Jo sneered. The oversized dog stalked its new prey and I had a sinking feeling. Why wasn't I pooping my pants right now out of fear? Why did this strange creature feel so familiar? The animal circled closer and closer and I noticed that it kept a watchful eye on me. The eyes were gentle and calm with me but dark and fierce with Jo. Jo was standing in front of me; he was protecting me for the dog-thing. Only, I didn't want to be protected from it, if anything I wanted protection from Jo. He had changed a lot when I wasn't paying him any attention. He had become devastatingly handsome and pale. I caught the eye of the dog-thing and I swear it winked at me. I started to back away slowly from José and ran for it. Now, I'd never thought of myself as a fast runner. I had a distinct edge in that Jo was so focused on the dog-thing.

"Oh no no." Jo was standing calmly in front of me. I looked back and he had easily cleared a quarter of a mile in seconds, without breaking a sweat. Shit. I was really in trouble. "The way I see things you have a few choices: come with me and be happier beyond your wildest dreams, or stay with _Paul_ and die." He was walking closer to me now and I started to sweat. I saw the dog-thing stalking up behind Jo.

"Jo, you know I've _always _wanted you." I decided to seduce him until the dog could get him. "I can't imagine what I would do without you, baby." I placed both hands on his temperature? I leaned in close enough for Jo to kiss me, this caused him to become so flustered and distracted that he didn't sense the dog-thing closing in. At the last minute I chickened out. I saw something in José's eyes, I saw the boy that was my first love. Jo realized what was happening and ran away faster than I could have ever imagined a person could run. I watched the blur until he had completely vanished. I turned around to be facing a very naked, very worried Paul. I tried extremely hard not to look too south, _but _it was too hard not to sneak a peek.

"Hey!" he covered his man-bits, "Can I burrow you shirt until I can get to my pants?" I was wearing a swimming suit under my shorts and tank top. I gave up my shirt and Paul tried to fit it around his waist, but my shirt was too small. I started giggling nervously. "Oh shut up." That only made me laugh harder.

"Wait. How did you end up naked? Did you see that dog-thing? What is wrong with José?" My head was spinning with questions.

"Lila! You are so frustrating! I am a werewolf! I just saved you." He put both of his huge hands on my shoulders; however this gesture made him drop my shirt and expose himself again.

"That was you? No… Wait! I-I don't believe it." The realization that maybe his little wolf fetish might have been something _supernatural_ was starting to sink in. I found myself strong and unafraid of what this could all mean. I knew that I needed time to adjust, but I also knew that this summer was going to be _very _interesting.


	7. Belief Makes Thing Feel Alright

Paul

Paul

She was driving me crazy. Every time I tried to explain what had happened to her, tried to explain about José, she just didn't believe.

"You are tellin' me," me sounded more like meh, and her hip was jutted out. "that my old friend, my Jo, is a vampire? Ha! Then why was he outside? In the daylight?" she raised one eyebrow.

"We've gone over this a million times!" I calmed myself. Sometimes I forgot how loud my voice could get. "I've told you, it was overcast. Please, Lila, you have to believe me."

"Why? Why do I have to believe you?" she was almost hysterical.

"Because I love you. I want to share everything with you." I took one of her hands in my own. She pulled it away and walked off. I was starting to get very nervous. Had I really imprinted? Was Lila really _the one_? I asked Sam.

"_What is going on? Why is she acting this way? I don't understand!" I had my head in my hands._

"_Be patient. I can tell that she is the one." He answered calmly. _

"_How?! How can you tell? I'm dying here!"My frustration was bubbling over and I felt my body begging to tear itself apart. _

"_There is something about her. There is something very special and permanent about her. Why a werewolf imprints the rest of the pack must feel something for the imprint also. She just feels right." He answered simply. God bless his patience. _

"_She is just so frustrating!" I was scared and annoyed._

"_Just hang in there, things will work themselves out. I have faith." _

I was angrily shoveling horse crap. I had gotten so used to the smell that it smelled about as bad as grass to me anymore. That day had been bad. I woke up late, there wasn't anything to eat in the house, I had run out of clean clothes, my shoes had developed a hole, my truck was out of gas, and Lila had been acting skittish all week. The only good thing was that José had _mysteriously _gone out of town. I felt like I could breathe again, every time a vampire lurked I felt choked up and on edge. José hadn't been a vampire long; I was shocked at his level of self-control around Lila. I must have been too preoccupied with Lila to have noticed him changed. I couldn't believe it; and I was worried. I continued shoveling horse crap angrily; it was actually a nice stress reliever. I heard footsteps. I pretended not to hear until the person was a few feel away.

"I don't think I like you." Poco was now sitting on the fence sucking on a Popsicle and watching me shovel horse crap angrily.

"I'm sorry you feel that way." I had remembered an article I'd read about dealing with annoying people. I responded accordingly. He was practically a part of my boss's family. Poco was the baby and you never upset the baby.

"Well I'm sorry that you made José go away." Poco spat back at me. I stopped shoveling and took a step forward. I had to remind myself not to be too intimidating.

"I'm sorry you feel that way. I happen to disagree." I said simply.

"I don't care what you think. He is my brother and I want him to come back." This was typical of kids. They would just talk on and on about what _they_ wanted. They also were painfully self-centered. Poco was the epitome of this.

"I hope you are able to see him soon." I turned back to my work. Poco didn't leave, he just kept suckling on his Popsicle and probably wondering how best to punch me in the face.

"Howdy Poco! Are you bothering Paul while he is hard at work?" Lila was smiling and looking fresh. Her expression darkened a little when our eyes made contact. I shuddered and felt bad.

"I'm not bothering him." He said and stuck his chin out in a comical way. I bit my lip to keep from laughing. Lila let out her musical laugh and I could feel my resolve and anger waver.

"What were you two talking about?" she asked.

"He was just explaining that he doesn't think he likes me." I said staring at Poco as I answered.

"Poco! I'm surprised at you! That is a very rude way to act." Lila drawled. She was scolding Poco while I went on with my work. "Will you let me and Paul talk alone please?"

"I guess…" he shuffled off, but seemed terribly displeased. I stopped working, again, and turned to face Lila.

"Hey." She said softly. I could that she'd lost her nerve and she seemed a little nervous.

"What's up, Lila?" I tried to smile normally but I was worried that it came off as more of a grimace.

"I-well-I miss you. I hate not talkin' to you." She rubbed the back of her neck and avoided my gaze.

"Hey," I said calmly and I took one finger on her cheek and turned her face so that she was looking at me. Her eyes were stunning as usual and my heart skipped a beat. "Oh," I breathed, "you literally take my breath away. How have you been?"

"Thinkin'. I've been thinkin' a lot." She looked guilty. "I can't tell you that I love you. I can only trust myself and put a certain amount of trust in you. I'm not makin' no sense am I? I just got off the phone with my momma, it makes my accent stronger. I'm sorry."

"No, never be sorry for who you are, because it's beautiful. You are beautiful. I'm sorry if I've been coming on too strong, I don't mean to." I could feel myself blush and I looked away.

"Paul. I am just not that kind of girl. I need time and plenty of _wooing_," she gave a sly smile, "only then can I truly love. You have to understand that when I love, I love forever. I want you to know that I loved Jo, I loved Jo but I was not _in love with him_. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah. Well, sort of. See, José is a vampire whether you like it or not. I will do everything I can to keep you away from him." I looked her in the eye and she sighed. I could see her resolve breaking.

"Paul-" her voice broke, "he's my friend. I never forget friends, call it Southern loyalty." She gave a forced laugh.

"You know, historically that's not really true." Then I got the joke. Civil War, haha. "I'm sorry Lila, I really am. He has changed and I'm scare for you. I'm afraid of what might happen."

"I don't even believe this! I can't. I can't believe the whole werewolf and vampires and zombies things."

"Zombies? Really Li? That's crazy." I joked. She was oblivious to the joke.

Lila

My internal struggle was driving me crazy. I wanted to believe Paul more than anything but my momma had raised me to see the ring before I accept the proposal. Or drive the car before I buy it; to trust and believe on faith was hard, it had always been a hard sell for me. I was stubborn. At least I knew I was stubborn. That had to count for something.

"Miss. Maria? Do you have some time for a quick chat with me?" I sat down at the kitchen table.

"Sure chica," she sat down, "what's wrong?" she made a little worried face.

"I need to forget Jo. You know how much I love and adore your family. Your family _is _the only family to me. Besides my aunt, you know. My momma and daddy didn't raise me past buying the diapers and a few quick smacks. They have two separate lives that just don't include me much. I trust your opinion more than anything. But I need to forget your son." I took a deep breath and held it.

"Oh, oh chica. José is going through some things right now. It makes me sad that you want to forget him, but," I remembered that breathing is always important, and took another breath, "but I know that you need this Paul boy. I can see how special he is, so don't worry. You have my blessing." She smiled and stood up and got back to work. I sat there stunned. How could she be so _nonchalant?_

"Just-just like that? You are not even gonna fight for your son? Fight for our relationship?" I was in a little bit of shock.

"Lila, if you aren't willing to fight for it, then why should I? José has changed drastically in the last few weeks." She shrugged and left the room. I thought I saw a few tears streaming down her face as she left. I couldn't be sure. I heard the phone ring and ran to go get it.

"Hello, Langdon Farm. This is Elizabeth speaking." I said in the most business-like tone I could manage.

"Uh hello? Liz?" I heard Emily on the line.

"Hey Em, how are you?" I sat down at the desk in the kitchen.

"Fine fine, do you have time to hang out with me this week?" she sounded strange but we did hang out often.

"Yeah, do you want to catch lunch?" we picked a time and place to meet.

Emily looked nervous and I started to worry. She was sitting at a small two person table in the small local café.

"Hey you." I said and sat down at the table, I tried to smile naturally at her but it felt more like a grimace.

"Hi." She smiled nervously. We went to get our coffee and fancy sandwiches. After a few good bites of sandwich and I could feel the food sink satisfyingly in stomach we started to really talk.

"I don't understand why you don't believe Paul." She was fidgeting. I had never seen Emily fidget in her life. Strange.

"Emily, what's wrong?" she shook her head. "No, what's _really _wrong?"

"By not believing Paul, you are snubbing everyone in the pack." She was wringing her hands. I could tell that she had been put up to this. Emily wasn't one for confrontation.

"I'm sorry Emily, but I just _don't_." I shrugged and pulled a muscle in my neck. Ouch.

"Why? Why is this so hard to believe?" her eyes were soft and worried.

"Emily, listen to yourself! It's crazy! Werewolves, really? Get real; it's just in his head. Is that why you guy call yourselves 'the pack'. Do you feed his delusion?" I was starting to get annoyed. I didn't like being picked on and I _really _didn't like being ganged up on.

"Lila, please calm down. I want to tell you the story of how I got these scars." Emily proceeded to explain the sad story of how Sam hurt her, how he didn't understand what was happening to him and how he hurt the one person he cared about the most. I wept for her. I wept for the loss of her skin deep beauty.

"I-I'm so sorry, Emily." I was drying my tears. When I took a closer look at her arms the realization sunk in even deeper. I was getting sad.

"I want you to be careful. Paul is the most… volatile. He has anger issues. I know he would never want to hurt you, but I am a warning sign. My body should be a warning sign." She shrugged but I could tell she was still thinking hard about this.

"I need to think, I don't-I can't-" I stuttered.

"You can, sweetheart, you need to believe. We all need you to be a part of this group. You are permanent whether you like it or not. Something will always draw you back to La Push and back to Paul. If you don't believe me try spending time away from Paul, it hurts." I believed her; at this point I couldn't imagine ever leaving La Push. That was a hard realization.

"I don't like having my southern pride hurt, but I was wrong. I am slowly starting to believe that you are… a-a werewolf." I swallowed hard and waited for a reaction.

"Ok, well good then." Was Paul's response. He smiled and gave me a hug. I leaned back and he kissed me so passionately I felt it deep down from the hair on my head to the tips of my toes. He made me so happy I almost fell apart and swam in his love and basked in his glow. His perfect tan face was so close to mine and I smelled the deep forest pine smell that came off his skin. It felt so beautifully natural being in his arms. There was truly no place I would rather be. And standing there locked in his arms is exactly when everything began to unravel and fall apart.


End file.
